Searched but didn't find similar problem. Oil detected on electrode side of plug and on exhaust manifold and cylinder 5 misfiring.

Car sat for a week on a 15 degree incline while on vacation. Drove just fine beforehand. I come back and start the car up and immediately it makes a distinct mechanical clicking noise coming from the passenger side under the hood. Also had a SES light which hadn't existed before. I pull into the garage and notice white smoke coming from behind cylinder five (closest to firewall on passenger side).

Noticed oil leak at valve gasket. Pulled plugs and all were fine except 5 which had oil on internal side where the electrode is located. Also noticed small oil deposit on top of the plug. Coil pack had oil deposits around the bottom portion of the rubber boot which rotated freely.

Performed DIY Valve Gasket Repair and replaced all plugs with NGK Iridium IX plugs (noticed later laser platinums are recommended). Cleaned coil pack and intake manifold with shop towel. Put everything back together. Added 2.5 qts Mobile One.

Started car and mechanical clicking noise was immediately present and coming from cylinder 5. RPM's ranged between 1500-1200. White smoke began to come again from behind cylinder 5 and no valve gasket leak detected. Car began to idle differently and exhaust note went deeper. Sounded like misfire and started to become very rough so I shut the car down.

Jacked the car up and noticed oil coming from beneath cylinder 5 below the valve gasket. There was also a lot of oil on the exhaust pipe directly beneath.

Any help at all would be appreciated. It's almost 3am so I'm giving it a rest tonight.

 

There's one culprit to your white smoke coming out of the exhaust. That is a blown head gasket. A leaking head gasket would cause coolant to leak from the jacket to the cylinder producing white/gray smoke. Take it up to Forged Performance up in Marietta and ask for Sharif or Decker. Hope that helps. Btw, how's GA if you don't mind me asking?

 

That's what I'm afraid of however the white smoke came from the engine compartment and not the exhaust. I haven't detected any coolant in the oil as of yet. Started the car up this morning and the mechanical clicking was present but not as loud as previously. Upon hitting the gas it was apparent one of the cylinders wasn't firing as it was rough, hesitant, and the car sounds like it's "camming". After running for a minute it threw a SES light.

Georgia is pretty nice right now. Cool weather and clear skies through the weekend. Other than that, I'm ready to sell my car and move back to South Florida lol.

 

what was the code?

you might have just got oil into the coil and messed it up.

 

Don't know what code is...don't have a scanner and am afraid to drive it.

With what is known so far, do you think it is safe to drive? Would go less than 10 miles to Advanced so they could pull code.

 

Swap out coils and you will see I'd its the coilpack. Misfires on a difeerent cylinder than its the coil. Oil could be from the bad valve cover Gasket being blown

 

Switched coilpacks and cleaned the one from bad cylinder because it had oil inside. Then I reset the computer to clear SES light using key/pedal method.

Car sounded great upon startup for the first couple minutes then began to do the same thing again. Drove it around the block and noticed severe power loss and acceleration lag. Lots of white smoke coming from the exhaust (smelled like firecrackers) but no trace of oil in the coolant reservoir. White smoke also bellowed from the exhaust manifold where oil had originally dripped. SES light began blinking after idling 5 minutes whereas before it was solid.

Will pull plugs when car cools to check for contamination.

Any thoughts/opinions?

 

Sounds like a head gasket issue to me. Smells like firecracker, which to me smells like burnt coolant.

 

Pulled plugs: 1 & 5 have oil on the threads and burnt white residue on the ground. See pictures below.

Picture 1
Far left - new plug from cylinder #1
Middle - new plug from cylinder #5
Right - old plug from cylinder #5

Picture 2
Close-up on white residue

General consensus head gasket failure?

 

Just got car back from dealer. Car was suffering from vacuum leak, clogged injectors, and water in the fuel tank. Runs like a champ now....and a bad pcv valve.

 

You mentioned the car drove fine before you left it sit for a while. Thinking back, were there any signs at all before you parked it? What was the root cause of the issue from all the things dealer mentioned? How many miles did you drive it while the issue was happening and did the dealer say anything about that making things worse or no difference?

 

Before it was fine and there were no signs. In retrospect I think the dealer performed some services that weren't necessary like the gas tank cleaning and injectors but maybe not. PVC valve and leaking hose were definitely bad. The valve cover gasket was bad and may have been a culprit in cylinder five leaking. Honestly I was just so happy it wasn't a head gasket I didn't bother to ask many questions.